Well, dear readers, I have to say I have been completely stir crazy for the whole week I’ve been sick. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, have been completely stir crazy for the whole week I’ve been sick. Every day I stir things. I stir pudding, I stir sauce, I stir soup, I stir Diet Coke – I tell you I am stir crazy. So, today, I actually got out of the house for a fair portion of the day, since it was quite warm out and quite pretty. I put gas in the motor car, I took a drive, I ate a California melt and fries (my little treat to myself), I had two normal-sized donuts (my little treat to myself), and I continued to blow out amazing portions of mucous out of my poor nostrils.
That was basically all I did – no packages to pick up and no errands and whatnot to do. When I came home I had a long telephonic conversation with the business manager about the house and things will finally be getting done over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, The Return of the Carpenter Ants continues – I think I must have killed fifty or sixty of the little suckers yesterday. They seem to sleep after dark, so nights aren’t such a problem. Monday afternoon cannot come soon enough so they can death spray these little mothers to Kingdom Come.
Then I did some work on the computer, had a long telephonic call with our very own Mr. Nick Redman about this and that and also that and this, and then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching How Green Was My Valley on Blu and Ray, which was much more fulfilling than watching How Blu Was My Valley on Green and Ray. As I mentioned yesterday, somehow I have never seen this classic motion picture and I’m glad that situation has been rectified, oh, yes, I’m glad that situation has been rectified. I thought it was a grand motion picture entertainment, with many touching scenes, scenes of good humor and good drama and a cast of exemplary players. Young Master Roddy McDowell is wonderful as the young boy, and Donald Crisp gives a beautiful performance. Maureen O’Hara is captivating (she was all of nineteen), and Walter Pidgeon is solid and excellent as he always is. Beautiful photography by Arthur Miller, and simple and perfect direction by Mr. Ford. Filmmakers today can learn volumes about storytelling from Mr. Ford – put the damn camera down in the right place, block your actors correctly, and voila – you tell the story, without hype or calling attention to the direction. I also felt that the score by Mr. Alfred Newman was one of his loveliest creations. The transfer is great and it’s highly recommended by the likes of me.
Then I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Wild River. This is yet another picture I never saw back in the day – it wasn’t on my radar and it’s never BEEN on my radar. I knew the title and it wasn’t ever talked about or really ever shown. And why is that? Because I am here to tell you, Wild River is a great motion picture and one of Elia Kazan’s best films. It made me indescribably happy watching a great script, directed beautifully, and with a cast of players delivering wonderful performances straight down the line. I read one online “review” by someone who used to post here regularly that felt it necessary to call out the stock footage at the beginning of the film, as if it was a product of the transfer. Really? Stock footage is stock footage and it is NO reviewers job to call it out when talking about a transfer. Sorry, that’s the way I feel. The same reviewer also felt that Montgomery Clift was not ideal casting and he posits that Kazan wanted Brando. Well, Brando would not have been anywhere near as effective as Mr. Clift. It is one of Mr. Clift’s best performances – he’s real, he’s complex, and he’s just a pleasure to watch. The issues the reviewer had, I feel, have everything to do with the character as it is written and nothing to do with the actor playing it. Sorry, that’s the way I feel. Lee Remick is brilliant in this film – she should have been nominated for an Oscar. And Jo Van Fleet playing an eighty-year-old woman is beyond amazing. Not one person in any review I have read online has mentioned the make-up and my guess is they all think that it’s not make-up, that it’s Miss Van Fleet circa 1960. Well, Miss Van Fleet circa 1960 was all of forty-six years of age. It is, in fact, the best old-age make-up I have ever seen on the screen. Why? Because it’s SUBTLE. And perfect. The transfer is spectacularly good – it’s a poster child for what correct color of that era should look like. The detail is terrific and I just have to give this my highest recommendation. It’s a film that I think very few people know and it’s one that people should definitely take a chance on.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get these here notes posted and get another good night’s beauty sleep. I have managed to get ten hours for the last four days.
Today, I have no plans whatsoever. Since Sunday is an almost impossible day in terms of getting into restaurants, I think I’ll just make my meal o’ the day right here at home. I shall watch more motion pictures, and maybe begin writing my contextual commentary for the upcoming Kritzerland show.
This coming week I hope that I’m completely back to normal. I have the pest control people coming Monday, Tuesday I have a fun lunch at Langer’s, and then I have other meetings and meals, I have to post our Kritzerland event page and send out the eBlast and catch up on all the things I didn’t do this past week due to being lethargic and ill.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, eat, and watch. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, no longer stir crazy due to having an afternoon out.